Basic Principles

First principle: Reading is complex, and it involves thinking

Reading is an interrelationship of several skills. It is a thoughtful, conscious though seemingly automatic, integrated process somewhat like that of walking, skiing, riding a bicycle, swimming, or driving a car. Discovering clusters of meaning from clusters of printed or written symbols requires a coordinated effort. And like the other processes mentioned, it involves adjusting one's performance to prevailing conditions, not a condition; there are things to do together, not one thing to do at a time. As with these other processes, reading may be done in any way that pleases the doer. The skillful reader, like the skillful swimmer or driver, develops confidence, flow, rhythm, coordination, and flexibility with experience.

As a thinking process, reading goes beyond the decoding of symbols to integrating and applying the meaning of these symbols. It goes as far as discovering what an author is thinking, and then discovering one's own thinking in the process. This kind of thinking prompts many questions about what is read. In a short story, play, or novel, a reader realizes that he must not only ask, “What happened?” but also “Why did this happen?” and “What does this have to do with the character's problem?” As a result of asking questions of these kinds, the reader may not only understand the theme of the work, but may wonder what that idea has to do with his own life. Literal or concrete reading leads to critical reading, and critical reading leads to creative reading.

Thinking readers are participating readers. As such, they have purposes and assume active roles. They try to discover who is speaking in literature, and they listen attentively to that voice, but they also assume their own postures and voices in responding. As they open their minds to the art and ideas of an especially skillful writer, they probe, question, grasp, pull back, reconsider, and probe again.

Second principle: Reading rate is adjustable

Rapid reading, or “speed reading”, as some people call it, has become almost a fetish. It is understandable to want to read faster, but it is unwise to want to read everything at top speed. The best reader can read very rapidly, but he or she adjusts the rate according to purpose to the kind of material. Purposes and demands differ between an informal essay and a formal one, and between the sports page in a newspaper and a chemistry textbook. Francis Bacon, a famous Renaissance scholar, was apparently such a reader. In his essay “Of Studies” he very wisely said, “ Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not seriously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.” This observation is as apt today as it was when Bacon made it.

One task for the English teacher, then, is to help students to read at rates that are appropriate to the purpose for reading and to the demands of the materials. To this end, the teacher can try to provide a wide range of reading materials and can stress the desirability of different reading rates. A literature program which is limited to a single anthology usually does not offer students sufficient range to develop this kind of flexibility. Fortunately, though, a variety of reading materials is available for use in English, especially in paperback format.

Third principle: Everyone in the English classroom can read better

As any experienced English teacher knows, a class is a mix of motivations, emotions, linguistic abilities, self-concepts, physical characteristics, attitudes, experiences, social conditions, economic conditions, cultural and ethnic identities, work habits, personalities, values, intellects, and so on. All of these factors affect reading, and in many cases are affected by reading. They also act in clusters, affecting one another.

Depending upon a student's cluster of some of these factors, he or she might be called advantaged or disadvantaged, or perhaps culturally different or linguistically different. Of course any such label is tenuous; it is relative to many contexts and open to many interpretations.

Because these factors are relative, the teaching of reading should also be relative. It should not work toward a common level. An English teacher must help each student to improve in the skills in which he or she is least proficient.

In a small school the teacher must look more closely at the results of standardized test scores to get a general idea of areas of difficulty and then develop and administer a much more helpful kind of instrument－ the informal reading inventory. The focus will be on word attack skills, building a larger sight vocabulary, and finding literal meanings. High-interest, low-difficulty materials should be used.

In a large school, the English teacher can often turn to a reading specialist for help. This specialist might assist in diagnosing difficulties or might work in the classroom with the English teacher. The specialist might also accept small groups of students from the English class in a reading classroom or clinic at prearranged times for special help.

What can an English teacher do to help students with difficulty? First the teacher must provide a comfortable classroom that will encourage these students to respond to whatever help is given. Then the English teacher can provide more opportunities in oral communication through structured conversations and oral pattern practices. These are reinforced by words, phrases, sentences, and pictures on flash cards and other teaching materials. As they improve, they should work with high-interest, low-difficulty materials which will enable them to encounter some of the same topics and ideas that other students will find in regularly assigned materials. In searching for good transitional materials, though, the English teacher should also look for literary value.

The English teacher should be aware of special problems that can arise in working with students who are trying to read English as a second language. The same sounds may exist in both languages but have different ranges. Words in both languages can have the same form but different meanings. Similar symbols can represent different sounds. And if this is not enough to worry about, sounds in one language may not exist in the other. The same can be true for word order and symbols for the alphabet. To this list of problems can also be added stylistic, idiomatic, and semantic differences deeply rooted in contrasting cultures.

Although an English teacher can do much to help problem students, the teacher should not attempt the task alone. Other students in class can help, particularly if they know both languages. So can specialists in reading and teachers in other subjects.

Problem students can be found in English classrooms all over the country. As we have seen, the English teacher can help them to read better. The task is not easy: it requires understanding, practice, flexibility, creativity, cooperation, and hard work. It also requires doing whatever one can to motivate the students.

Fourth principle: To read well, one must want to read well

Motivation is a key. These five axioms for motivating better reading, and the suggestions that accompany them should prove helpful:

Axiom 1. Each student should understand the personal advantages of reading. For those who claim that there is nothing in reading for them, the teacher can provide a wide variety of practical reading materials which could relate to immediate interests and the need for information. These could include newspaper ads, driver manuals, do-it-yourself kits, recipes, bus schedules, yellow pages from the telephone directory, information about jobs and careers, local laws and ordinances, and many other materials could be included.

Materials such as these can serve as prompters for students who refuse to read, but they do not in any way substitute for a literature program. Noting a show of interest, an alert teacher will capitalize on it by offering， not just suggesting, works which will allow the student to pursue that interest. Some of the most reluctant readers can be guided step by step from materials such as those mentioned above to literature of increasing quality.

The “best” students in school can also be reluctant readers. Even the most capable readers sometimes fail to see that literature can do anything worthwhile for them. The fault can lie in the reading material itself. Perhaps a selection does not lie close enough to interests, experiences, social backgrounds, cultural identities, anxieties, aspirations, thoughts, and emotions. The most capable readers also seek personal engagements with books, and will widen and strengthen their reading performance if encouraged to read books that interest them.

No teacher can assume, however, that the fault always lies with the book. Sometimes a book is not taught in a challenging way. If a teacher's questions in class discussion or in individual conferences fail to go beyond simple recall, a student may feel that the book has very limited value. Often too much is said about a book. And that which is said is sometimes so trivial that it wastes a student's time. Many capable students will not see the need to go beyond literal reading into critical and creative reading if not urged to do so by critical and creative questions.

Axiom 2. Each student should know how well he or she reads. This implies that students' reading should be tested at regular intervals. Each student should be told privately what test scores show about his or her own reading.

Ways should be designed to help students monitor their own progress. The practice of keeping individual reading folders for students can be useful. The results of questionnaires and interest inventories; records of wide, individualized reading; exercises in skimming, scanning, and vocabulary development; and scores from diagnostic and progress tests can be kept together in each folder. To protect each student's right to privacy, these folders can be kept in a locked file cabinet or closet.

Axiom 3. Each student should know that reading can be improved. Students who feel that they cannot improve or do not need to improve have no real motivation, and without motivation there will be little improvement. It is therefore the teacher's task to help students to break out of self-defeating cycles. A well-informed, caring, stimulating teacher is without doubt the most important outside factor in reading improvement.

Axiom 4. Reading materials should be appropriate. Peter L. Sanders lists these six guidelines to appropriateness:

1. The only works worth teaching have an artistic dimension.

2. Works should be selected for their probable appeal.

3. The subject matter of the works selected should be acceptable to the local community.

4. The work selected should reflect ethnic diversity.

5. There should be variety in content, style, and theme.

6. There should be a range in conceptual and linguistic difficulty.

G. Robert Carlsen observes that “the book that has the best chance of weaning the teenager between the age of twelve and fifteen away from sub-literature is the adolescent novel”.

Noting that adolescents “will read books of great language difficulty if the subject lies close to their interests, and reject even simple books about subjects that bore them,” Carlsen identifies “three transformations” that readers between the age of 10 or 11 and 18 go through in selecting content which interests them. In early adolescence, they find greatest satisfaction in animal stories, adventure stories, adolescent mysterious stories, tales of the supernatural, sports stories, growing up around the world, home and family-life stories, slapstick, and settings in the past. Reaching the age of 15 or 16 teenagers apparently prefer the nonfiction account of adventure, biography and autobiography, historical novels, mysterious romance, and the story of adolescent life. Those who are finishing their last two years of high school are interested in the search for personal values, books of social significance, the strange and unusual human experience, and transition into adult life.

After reviewing some of the research on reading interests, Alan Purves and Richard Beach (1972) concluded that students' interests are most associated with the content of a work rather than its form or style, and that most students prefer plain, suspenseful fare.

There are many ways in which an English teacher can discover the interests that can greatly affect reading. Observations, discussions with individual students, class and group discussions, oral and written reports, literary check-outs, personal writing, and entries in journals all help a teacher to gather this kind of information. These methods should be supplemented by a teacher-made reading inventory which provides a more structured approach to information-gathering.

By gathering useful information and providing appropriate reading materials, an English teacher is taking two very important steps toward helping students feel motivated. If the teacher takes another step at this point, it should be to help students taste some real success in reading something that interests them. Success is of course the greatest motivator of all. First questions in an informal conference should be the kind the student has the best chance of answering. Reading assignments should be easily attainable, and the student should not feel hurried or pressured. Thus, they may begin believing that they can do better than they thought possible.

Axiom 5. The classroom atmosphere should be pleasant. All efforts described above will work best if the classroom environment is friendly and free from tension. Even in a rather gloomy, unattractive building, the attitude of the teacher can make a class cheerful and cooperative. The teacher also sets the tone. The way a teacher interacts with students greatly affects the way students interact with books.

Fifth principle: Many teachers share in the responsibility for improving reading

If there is any one feature of the total reading program about which the experts agreed, it is that all high school teachers have a share in the responsibility of teaching reading, even though the major part of the burden falls upon the teacher of English.

Social studies teacher should give suggestions on how to read and study social studies material.

Teachers of science and math also must assume special responsibilities to help students to understand a test.

All teachers should teach skills appropriate to their fields and all teachers should cooperate to make reading uniformly valued throughout the school.

Sixth principle: There is no single right way to teach reading.

The significant point is that there is a degree of truth in most of the claims made by some researchers for the methods which have been successfully used. Each of the dozen of recommended methods is likely to lead to a special and rather limited sort of improvement. The best program, then, it would seem, would be a balanced one that borrows some parts from each of the proved methods.

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Follow-up Exercises

A. Comprehending the text.

Choose the best answer.

1. The first principle implies that __________. ( D )

(a) to read complex materials one has to think quite a lot

(b) to read is just to decode symbols

(c) to read is to understand the theme of the work

(d) to read is to think, to participate and create

2. According to the author, rapid reading is ___________. ( C )

(a) always desirable

(b) only a fetish

(c) useful for certain purposes only

(d) no good

3. Francis Bacon was in favor of ___________. ( A )

(a) a wise reader.

(b) a speed reader

(c) an diligent reader.

(d) an attentive reader.

4. The third principle implies that every student in the English classroom_____. ( D )

(a) is a qualified reader.

(b) has his own motivation for reading.

(c) can read better easily.

(d) can read better with the help of the teacher.

5. The most suitable reading materials for students are those ________. ( C )

(a) most difficult to read

(b) plain and easy

(c) with high interest and low difficulty

(d) both interesting and easy

6. While discussing the fourth principle, the author suggests practical reading materials such as newspaper ads and driver manuals are mainly for those______. ( D )

(a) who want to read well

(b) who understand the personal advantages of reading

(c) who have difficulty reading fast

(d) who think reading is useless

7.To help students monitor their progress in reading, the teacher can do all the following except ______. ( B )

(a) testing students at regular intervals.

(b) publicizing the testing results of the students .

(c) keeping as records students' testing results.

(d) protecting each student's right to privacy regarding tests.

8. According to Carlsen, adolescents ________. ( B )

(a) always reject books of great language difficulty

(b) read books of great language difficulty but with high interest

(c) prefer simple books to difficult ones

(d) are interested in the form or style of a work rather than its content

9. Which of the following is true? ( C )

(a) Tension is needed for a pleasant classroom atmosphere.

(b) In a rather gloomy and unattractive building you can never expect a cheerful class.

(c) A friendly teacher can make a class cooperative.

(d) The way a teacher interacts with students has nothing to do with the way the students interact with books.

10. The sixth principle implies that ________. ( A )

(a) the best way to teach reading is to make wise use of recommended methods

(b) there is no right way to teach reading

(c) some recommended methods are useful and some are not

(d) there is more than one way to teach reading

B. Discussing the following topics.

1. What is the appropriate relationship between speed reading and effective reading?

　

 

基本原则

　

第一原则：阅读是个复杂的过程，阅读需要思考。
阅读是数种技能的相互联系。它是一个有思想有意识，看起来是自动的，综合的过程，有点象步行、滑雪、骑车、游泳或驾驶汽车。从一系列印刷或书写的符号中发现连贯的意义需要努力协调各个技能。如同上述其它过程，阅读需要根据多个主要条件而不是单一条件调整个人的行为；不是在某一时间内从事一项活动，而是同时从事数项活动。和其它诸过程一样，阅读可以用行为者乐意的任何一种方式进行。熟练的读者就象熟练的游泳者或驾驶员一样，可以在经验中获得自信、动作的流畅性、节奏性、协调性及灵活性。

作为一个思维的过程，阅读不仅是对符号的解码，而且要使符号的意义间产生联系并应用这些符号的意义。阅读不仅能帮助领会作者之所想，而且能在其过程中发现读者自己的思想。这种思维引出针对所读材料的许多问题。在读一篇短篇小说、小说或剧本时，读者意识到他不能仅仅问“发生了什么事？”而且要问，“这事为什么会发生？”及“这与作品中人物的问题究竟有什么关系？”提出这类问题的结果是，读者不仅可以理解这一作品的主题，而且会思考这一主题和他自己的生活究竟有什么关系。为理解字面意义而进行的阅读或具体阅读，可以通向批评性阅读，而批评性阅读则可通向创造性阅读。
思考型的读者是参与型的读者。因而，他们有目的地阅读，并在此过程中起积极的作用。他们试图发现谁在作品中说话，并专注地倾听他的声音，但会以自己的观点和态度作出回应。他们对技艺高明的作家的艺术和观点敞开思想，探究问题，提出疑问，掌握精髓，然后重新审视问题，重新思考，并重新探究。
第二原则：阅读速度可以调节。

快速阅读，或一些人所称的“速读”，几乎已成为人们热衷于追求的技能。人们想读得更快的愿望可以理解，但想要以最快的速度阅读任何一种材料却不明智。最好的读者能够读得很快，但他却根据阅读不同材料的目的随时调整阅读速度。读一篇不拘形式的随笔或读一篇形式严谨的论文，读报纸上的体育消息或读化学教科书的目的和要求迥然不同。文艺复兴时期的著名学者弗朗西斯·培根显然就是这样一位读者。在“论学习”一文中，他睿智地说：“一些书只需略读，而另一些书则要细嚼慢咽，缓缓消化。也就是说一些书只需部分阅读，其它书只需浏览而不必深入阅读。但极少的书籍则要从头至尾细细阅读并需花大力气潜心研究。”这一论述不论在培根的时代或当今都是适用的。
因此，英语教师的一个任务就是要帮助学生以和阅读的目的与材料的要求相适合的速度阅读。为做到这一点，教师可以尝试提供给学生范围广泛的阅读材料，并强调应当采用的不同阅读速度。局限于一个文集的文学课程往往不能向学生提供内容广泛、充分的阅读材料来培养这种随时调节读速的灵活性。然而，所幸现在有多种英语读物，特别是平装书可供使用。
第三原则：英语课堂上的每一个学生都可以读得更好。

正如任何有经验的英语教师都知道的，一个班级是一个混合体，包含各种动机、各种情绪、各种语言能力、各种自我意识、各种生理特性、各种学习态度、各种经历、各种社会经济条件、各种文化与种族特点、各种学习习惯、各种价值观、各种知识层次等因素，这些因素都影响阅读，同时它们也在许多情况下受阅读的影响。这些因素还互相作用，互相影响。

根据某个学生身上体现的一些因素群，该生就可能会被认为学习上有优势或没有优势，也许有文化差异或语言差异。当然这些说法都含糊不清。它们都是相对许多条件而言，并可能有多种解释。

正因为这些因素都是相对的，阅读教学也应当是相对的。阅读教学不应当只有一个共同的标准。英语教师必须帮助每个学生在其最薄弱的环节上提高技能。

在规模小的学校，教师必须更密切地注视标准化测试的成绩，从而从总体上了解学生感到困难的环节，并逐渐形成并应用一种更有助于学生的教学手段，即非正式的阅读材料细目。教学重点将是培养学生识记词汇的技能以求扩大阅读词汇量并理解字面意义。要采用趣味性强，难度低的阅读材料。
在规模大的学校，英语教师可常常求助阅读专家。阅读专家则可以帮助诊断各种阅读困难，或在课堂教学上与英语教师通力合作。他也可以在预先安排的时间内，在阅读教室或指导中心接纳来自英语班级的几组学生，给予专门的帮助。

英语教师怎样帮助那些有困难的学生呢？首先，教师必须为他们提供舒适的教学环境，鼓励他们响应所提供的各种帮助。其次，英语教师可以通过构建的对话及口头句型练习，为他们提供更多的口头交流机会，并通过字词句及抽示卡上的图画和其它教学材料对他们所学的内容进行强化。在这些学生取得进步的同时，应当让他们接触有趣味、低难度的教材，以便让他们接触到一些其他学生在规定的正式教材上所能见到的话题和观点。然而，在寻找好的过渡材料的过程中，英语教师也应当重视材料的文学价值。
英语教师应当清楚，指导把英语当第二语言阅读的学生时会出现什么特殊问题。例如，在两种语言中可能存在着相同的发音，但却有着不同的音域。两种语言中的一些文字可具有同样的形式，但却有着不同的意义。相似的符号可能代表不同的发音。如果这还不足以令人担忧，那么还有其它的问题。如某些发音在另一语言中可能根本不存在。类似的还有词序及字母的写法。此外的问题还有根植在形成对照的文化中的诸如文体、习语、语义等方面的差异。
虽然英语教师对语言学习有困难的学生可以提供诸多帮助，但他不应试图独自承担这一任务。班上的其他学生——特别是那些既懂英语又懂学习有困难的学生本国语的学生——就可以充当助手，阅读专家和其它学科的教师也可相助。
在这个国家，有英语学习问题的学生到处可见。然而正象我们已看见的那样，英语教师要帮助他们更好地阅读绝非易事。从事这一工作需要理解、实践、灵活性、创造性、合作精神、和勤奋的工作，还要尽力去激发学生的学习动机。
第四原则：要阅读得好，首先必须想要阅读得好。

动机是关键。以下五条公理促进阅读的基本法则及与它们相应的建议是很有帮助的。
公理一．每个学生都应当了解自己在阅读方面的优势。对那些声称从阅读中毫无收获的人，教师可以提供多种实用性阅读材料以提高读者的即时兴趣和他们对信息的需求。这些材料可包括报纸广告、驾驶手册、供自己动手者使用的说明书、食谱、公共汽车时刻表、电话号码簿中的黄页、招聘信息、地方法规及其它许多材料。
这样的材料可促使那些拒绝阅读的学生去读。但它们绝不可代替文学课程。一旦注意到有兴趣表露，敏感的教师就会充分利用。他不仅建议而且提供那些能让学生继续这种兴趣的材料。一些最不愿意阅读的人可以通过教师的逐步指导，渐渐从阅读上述材料过渡到阅读较高质量的文本。

即使是学校里最好的学生，也可能不愿意阅读。甚至阅读能力最强的人，有时也不明白文学对他们的极大价值。造成这种结果的原因可能在于阅读材料本身。也许所选材料与学生的兴趣、经历、社会背景、文化特点、志趣、思想、情绪等相距甚远。阅读能力最强的读者也需要寻求迎合自己趣味的书籍。如果鼓励他们阅读自己感兴趣的书，他们就会扩大并加强他们的阅读活动。

然而，没有一个教师可以认为，问题的原因总是在书本。有时问题在于没有用具有挑战性的方法处理教材。如果教师在课堂讨论或个别辅导中提出的问题仅限于要学生回忆课文内容，学生就会感到这本书的价值有限。通常的情况是，教师讲解过多，讲解的内容有时又过于琐碎，学生会感到浪费时间。对于许多阅读能力强的学生，假如教师不提出一些评论性的或创造性的问题，来促进他们从字面意义识读向评论性、创造性阅读过渡，他们就看不到这种过渡的必要性。
公理二．每个学生都应当知道自己的阅读能力如何。这就意味着对学生的阅读能力应作定期测试。应当对学生个别说明测试成绩如何反映出他的阅读状况。
应当设计帮助学生监控自己学习进展情况的方法。保持每个学生阅读档案的做法可能会有效。问卷调查结果、旨在提高兴趣的阅读材料细目、广泛的个性化阅读记录、速读及略读练习及词汇量的发展、诊断性测试和对阅读进展情况的测试成绩，这些将放在每人的档案中。为保护每个学生的隐私权，可将这些档案锁在档案柜或壁橱里。

公理三．每个学生都应当知道阅读能力是可以提高的。感到自己不能提高或不需要提高的学生缺乏阅读动机，而缺乏动机就不会有什么进步。因此，教师的任务就是要帮助学生摆脱自我挫败的怪圈。一个知识渊博、关心学生、善于激励学生的教师，无疑是提高学生阅读水平过程中最重要的外部因素。
公理四．阅读教材必须适当。彼得· L·桑德斯列出了以下六条适当性准则：

　

1． 具有艺术性的材料才值得教。

2． 应当选用那些含有吸引力的材料。

3． 入选材料的题材应当为当地公众所接受。

4． 入选材料应当反映民族多样性。

5． 入选材料应当内容丰富、形式多样、题材广泛。

6． 所选材料的概念和语言难度应有一定的范围。

　

G·罗伯特·卡特逊认为：“最有可能使12-15岁的少年摆脱二流文学作品书籍的是青少年小说。”
卡特逊注意到，青少年们“会阅读语言难度很高的书籍，如果题材贴近他们的兴趣。但如果题材使他们厌倦，则语言再简单的书籍也会被拒之千里之外。”因此他发现年龄在10或11到18岁之间的读者，在选择他们感兴趣的材料方面要经过三个转变。在少年时期，他们最喜欢的是动物故事、冒险故事、青少年神秘故事、超自然的传说、体育故事、人生成长的家庭生活故事、滑稽故事及历史故事。到15，16岁时，他们显然偏爱有关非虚构的冒险、传记和自传、历史小说、神秘的浪漫故事及有关青少年生活的小说。那些将完成中学最后两年的学生则喜欢寻求个人价值。他们喜欢读具有社会意义的书、以及有关奇特的，不寻常的人生体验，及向成人生活过渡的书籍。
在评论一些对阅读兴趣做的研究之后，艾伦·帕夫斯和理查德·比奇（1972）得出结论，认为学生兴趣与作品内容的关系最为密切，而不是它的形式和风格。大多数学生喜欢朴实无华，带有悬念的故事。
英语教师可以通过很多方法去发现那些能大大影响阅读兴趣的因素。对个别学生的观察，个别讨论，班级及小组讨论、口头与书面报告、文学测评、个人随笔、日记中的记事，都有助于教师收集这类材料。除此之外，教师还应当设计阅读细目作为补充，为收集信息提供更加结构化的方法。

通过收集有用信息并提供合适的阅读材料，英语教师在帮助学生激发阅读动机上迈出了极其重要的两步。要采取的下一个步骤，就是要帮助学生在阅读他们感兴趣的材料过程中品味真正的成功。成功无疑是激发动机的最大因素。在非正式的课堂讨论中最先提出的问题，应当是学生最有可能回答的。阅读作业也不应太难，这样学生就不会感到紧张和压力。这样，他们就会相信他们能读得比想像的更为出色。
公理五．教室的气氛应令人愉快。如果教室的气氛友好而轻松，上述所列的原则将产生最佳效果。即使是在一幢相当阴暗，呆板的教学楼里，教师的态度也可以使整个班级喜气洋洋并愉快合作。教师定下了课堂的基调。教师与学生的交流方式会大大影响学生与书本之间的互动。

第五原则：众多教师共同分担提高阅读能力的责任。
对于整个的阅读教程，如果存在一个专家们一致认同的的共同特点，这就是所有的中学教师在阅读教学中都有一份责任，虽然主要的任务落在英语教师身上。例如，社会学科的教师应建议学生如何研读社会学科的材料。自然科学及数学教师也必须承担起特殊的责任，来帮助学生理解一个测试。
所有的教师都应当教授适合自身领域的阅读技能，并应当相互合作，使阅读在全校得到普遍重视。
第六原则：阅读教学无定法。
重要的一点是，一些教学法研究者所主张的已被成功运用的教学方法，大多数具有某种程度的道理。大量被介绍的方法中每一种都可能带来特定的、并且是有限的进步。而最佳的阅读教学方案，似乎是从每一个已被证明有效的教学方法中借鉴一部分，并加以平衡的方案。